TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Former Presidential Advisory Board member, Rusdi Kirana, revealed that he asked President Joko Widodo or Jokowi to appoint him as the Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia.
“We have many Indonesians who need help there [in Malaysia]. That is one of the reasons why it is better for me to be in Malaysia to help them,” Rusdi said right after his inauguration today.
Rusdi explained that Indonesian foreign workers need government’s help the most, especially the illegal ones. He views that many of them are ill-fated or treated improperly.
One of the assistances that he plans on doing is to establish a vocational education institution aiming at equipping migrant workers with skills that they to survive in Malaysia.
In addition, Indonesian migrant workers are expected to be able to find employments once they return to Indonesia. Rusdi hopes that repatriated workers can open their own businesses in Indonesia.
Another form of assistance to be provided is an all-out legal assistance for Indonesian migrant workers.
“No one in the world would like to have their children working overseas as illegal foreign workers,” Rusdi said.
ISTMAN M.P.
